


From One Father to Another

by ATwistOfLemonLyman



Series: The Gods Have Conspired [15]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Coming Out, Gen, Vignette, post Bartlet Administration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 17:52:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11362560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATwistOfLemonLyman/pseuds/ATwistOfLemonLyman
Summary: There's a lot going through Toby Ziegler's mind after his teenaged daughter comes out to him and he decides that Josh Lyman is just the guy to talk to.





	From One Father to Another

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to turn some notes I had into a vignette for Pride Month so of course on the VERY LAST day I finally forced myself to finish this. I think it turned out much fluffier than I had intended, not that I was going for heavy hitting angst but this definitely didn't go exactly as I thought it would, but that's ok because I think I sort of needed this because it's NOT how it's going to go down if I ever come out to my parents. Anyway, enjoy and Happy Last Day of Pride Month!

_**Washington DC** _

_ 2018 _

* * *

 

Toby: Are you busy?

Josh: No

Josh: Home alone and I’ve been left to my own devices *baseball emoji* *beer emoj*

Josh: it’s great being a kept man, you should try it some time.

Josh: Why, what’s up?

Toby: I’m coming over.

Josh: Something wrong?

Toby: We’ll talk when I get there.

Josh: Toby...

Toby: We’ll talk when I get there.

Josh: K

* * *

 

  Josh opened the front door for Toby.

  Toby gave him a quiet “hey” as he shuffled in, his mind clearly miles away.

  “You want a beer or something?” Josh asked, in hopes of snapping his friend out of whatever funk he was in.

  Toby finally looked up.

  “What?”

  “A beer, do you want one?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure.”

  As Josh went to the kitchen and pulled two beers out of the fridge, he heard Toby make his way down to the ground level and heard the screen door that led to the back yard open and close.

  Josh found Toby sitting on the edge of the back porch, he handed Toby a cold glass bottle and sat down beside him.

  “So, what’s going on that merits a visit and has got you so distracted?”

  Toby sighed.

  “Molly, uh, Molly came out to us; CJ, Andy, and I. She’s Bisexual, she has a girlfriend.”

  “Oh,” Josh said, as his ever expressive eyebrows shot up. “Is she alright with you telling me this?”

   “She- uh, she told us it was ok to, you know, to tell “The Family”- she used those- uh- air quotes so I know she meant the Lyman-Moss clan,” he said as he stared at the bottle in his hand.   Josh let out an amused snort at Toby’s use of the word “clan”, with Jake married and with kids of his own Toby often complained that there were far too many Lymans for him to handle.

  “You’re- you’re ok with it aren’t you?” Josh was certain what Toby’s answer would be but it was obvious something was bothering him, so he asked anyway in hopes of getting him to talk.

  “Of course- of course I’m fine with it, she’s my daughter, I love her, who she’s attracted to is  _ not _ a problem,” he replied emphatically.

  Josh nodded. He was well aware of how much Toby loved the twins and there was nothing that would change that.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Apart from my 16 year old dating?”

  Josh smiled and Toby took a swig of beer then inspected his bottle for several seconds.

  “I’m... worried, worried about what her life might be like now, the things she might have to go through because of who she is. I know I won’t be around forever to protect her.”

  There was a reason why Toby had come to Josh with this, two reasons to be exact. First, he didn’t know anyone as neurotic about their children's’ well-being as Josh was about Jake, Noah, and Katherine. Toby needed to talk to someone who somehow managed to survive that near constant level of panic Josh seemed to maintain. And second, he needed to talk to someone who worried about what being an older father entailed. He knew for a fact that Josh often worried about not being around for some of his children's milestones. Josh would be in his mid 60s by the time his youngest would be graduating high school and pushing 70 when she’d be graduating from college. Seventy was not an impossible age to reach, but with a bum heart and a history of early deaths in his family Josh wasn’t particularly optimistic. So of course Josh worried that he wouldn’t be able to be around to protect and be there for the people he loved and Toby, who at the twins’ birth had been a year older than Josh had been when Katherine was born, was in the same boat.

  “Toby, she’s got so many people who love and care about her that she can lean on if she ever needs support. And, well- I know being Bisexual isn’t going to be easy, there are some shitty people out there who might make things difficult, but... you  _ know _ this doesn’t mean that her life  _ has  _ to be a tragedy, it’s not set in stone. I mean look at your sister Judith and... and-”

  “Eileen,” Toby supplied.

  “Judith and Eileen. They’ve been together for decades and look at the lives they’ve led. Sure it wasn’t all sunshine and roses but they found each other and they built a life that they love. And- and my Aunts Jules and Edie-”

  “They’re not your aunts, Josh.”

  “You’re ruining the moment, Toby, and they may as well be my actual aunts. Anyway, they’ve been together since before I was born, being gay and happy and terrorizing the citizens of Rhode Island with their shenanigans. So, you know, there’s precedent, there are people Molly can look up to.”

  Toby sat quietly, processing all that Josh had said and knew that his friend was right. He always hated to admit when Josh was right, it wasn’t a rare occurrence but Toby hated to admit it all the same. He could never stop worrying about Molly’s safety and happiness but even if Toby couldn’t be around for as long as he’d like there was already a whole army of people who would gladly be there for her.

  “She’s a smart and strong girl, Toby, and she’ll have all the love and support we’re capable of giving.”

  Toby nodded.

  “I don’t know why you didn’t talk to CJ and Andy about all of- this,” Josh wasn’t sure how exactly they managed it but neither CJ nor Andy were out, even so they seemed like the obvious choice for people Toby should be talking to.

  “I needed to- I did talk to them but I needed to-”

  “Talk to someone that’s close, but not  _ that _ close to the situation?”

 “Yeah, and- well- I needed another father’s perspective... I suppose.”

  “Ok. Well maybe you should call your sister next, if you haven’t already, you know for the ‘Out and Proud’ perspective.” 

  “Yeah, she’s next on my list.”

  “Ok.”

  “Ok.”

  They both took a swig.

  “You know what I just noticed?” Toby asked.

  “Hm?”

  “Judith and Eileen. Jules and Edie.”

  Josh tilted his head and looked confused for a moment before he saw the pattern in the names and smiled.

  “Well, I guess that’s a gay aunts thing now.”

  Before Toby could say anything in response here was a great commotion that came from the front of the house, Josh and Toby heard the sound of running feet slapping the wooden floor followed by Donna shouting her daughter’s name. 

  "Hi Dad! Hi Uncle Toby!" Katherine shouted as she flung her left arm over her father's shoulder, her other arm, the one encased in a bright pink cast remained at her side. 

    "Hey Kit Kat, what did the doctor say?"

    "He said this gets to come off soon," she answered, waving her right arm around. 

    "Your cello teacher will be happy."

    "You mean mom'll be happy," said Katherine with a roll of her eyes. 

   It had been difficult to tell if Donna or Mrs. Nordstrom had been more upset over Katherine breaking her arm during a baseball game after an slide into third base from a member of the opposing team had sent her flying through the air and landing on her arm with a gruesome crunch the week before her cello recital. 

  "What were you talking about?"

  "Katherine," came a warning voice from behind. 

 They hadn't heard Donna approach, she stood by the screen door Katherine had hastily opened and had failed to close. 

 "We were talking about Molly," Toby said slowly. 

 "What about Molly?" Katherine questioned.

  "She has a girlfriend," Toby answered, waiting to see how the ten year old beside him would react. Meanwhile Donna had turned to look at Josh who simply nodded in response. 

 "But you said she couldn't date until she was 30 and she’s 16, I remember because dad told me the same thing!" Katherine's eyes narrowed. "She still had 14 years to go!"

 Katherine turned from Toby to her father. 

 "Does that mean I still have to follow your dumb rule?"

 "Hey, it’s not a dumb rule, and if you push me I won't let you date til you’re married!"

 "Dad," Katherine whined in a tone not dissimilar to the one Josh often used. "That isn’t fair! Besides, that doesn't even make sense, I can’t marry someone before I date them!"

  Katherine glared at her father who shot back a watered down version of the look he’d give members of Congress who didn’t behave the way he wanted. Not that Josh’s glare would amount to anything, Toby thought, Josh’s bark was much worse than his bite when it came to his children.

  “Anyway,” Katherine said loudly as she made an attempt to get back to the subject of Molly. “I think it’s really cool that Molly has a girlfriend. Uncle Toby, d’you want to sign my cast? Look there’s some space right here”

  Katherine pointed at a spot near her elbow and Toby smiled at the girl’s short attention span.

 Most of the time Katherine Lyman was overwhelmingly Josh-like; loud, passionate, never still, and occasionally obnoxious. But despite how much she was like her father, something about Katherine’s reaction to Molly having a girlfriend reminded Toby of when he'd told Donna about the President's MS; neither of them had gotten hung up on what everyone else had. He only hoped more people would react the way Katherine had.

  “I don’t have a pen on me.”

  “Toby Ziegler leaving the house without a pen? Never!” Donna said from behind Toby.

  “Ok, I expected a crack like that from him but not from you,” Toby said as he turned to look at Donna who gave him a wink. “You’ve corrupted her, Josh.”

  “Katherine, come on, let’s go find a permanent marker for your Uncle Toby.”

  “Ok,” Katherine shouted as she bolted over to her mother and they made their way back into the house.

  “I like that kid, even if she’s got some of your less than sterling qualities,” Toby said as he watched Katherine go.

  “Thanks, I guess,” Josh laughed. “Toby?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I'm really touched that you came to me with this-”

  “Josh,” Toby protested but Josh ignored him. 

  “Honestly, I’m really touched.”

  “Now you’re the one ruining the moment.”

* * *

  After Donna forced Toby to have dinner with them (like Josh he had also been left to his own devices for the day) and more of Katherine’s antics, now tempered by Noah’s much calmer presence, Toby Ziegler left the Lyman house in a far brighter mood than he had arrived in and filled with hope for his daughter’s future.


End file.
